01.01.06
UCF Fall Retreat
I’ve decided to push this since it isn’t going to get any better rotting on my hard drive. Apologies in advance.
So…way way later than I meant to, I finally get around to posting on the UCF fall retreat.
Many weekends ago (Oct. 28-30) I went on a retreat with UCF (University Christian Fellowship–student group at UW) to Whidbey Island to hear Gordon Fee speak. Dr. Fee currently teaches at Regent College in Canada, and he was a major figure in the NIV translation of the Bible.
For some reason, speakers frequently can’t hold my attention. Maybe I find preaching boring (actually…I know I do, anything requiring me to sit still while someone else does all the work, is going to bore me). This was not the case with Dr. Fee, he had my attention most of the time, and I was even riveted at times. He is a very good speaker, not only good at speaking, but he knows his Bible extremely well. Obviously because of his background, his grasp on the Bible is far better than that of most people. I also enjoyed his comments on the translation committee and the decisions they made (“I lost this battle, I wanted to translate this as….”).
OK, writing this so long after the retreat, my recollection of the theology is sketchy at best. I’d written part of a paragraph not too long after the actual event, I’ve included it below…maybe it will make more sense to you if you went to the retreat.
Dr. Fee covered Philippians. I don’t remember half of what he talked about that actually applies to our lives today (yeah…I was paying more attention to his technical details on translation). However, he did go into humility. In Chapter 1, Paul talks about how despite the fact that people preaching the gospel for the wrong reasons is not a good thing in intself, the end result is that the *gospel is preached* and that’s what really matters. Christians get caught up in this a lot. Here is Paul rejoicing because the Gospel is being preached “even of envy and strife” (Philippians 1:15, KJV). Modern denominations have bickered over less.
There were some great Quotes from Dr. Fee:
“God is not like us.” (duh…I guess it sounded a lot better coming from him)
“Every other deity on Earth has been created in our image.”
“We become like the God we worship.”
“You have to be careful with a guy like Paul–if you let him out in the world, he’ll turn the world upside down. If you lock him up in your palace, he’ll turn your palace upside down” (see Philippians 1:12-14 for context)
And an amusing anecdote:
[Just as Dr. Fee starts speaking, the windows start-up chime is heard from somewhere in the audience]
Dr. Fee: I recognize that sound…I may be old, but I have one of those, too!
I also had a very inelegant theological argument with someone from UCF…ok, so it wasn’t actually an argument, I just dismissed the subject outright with a very nasty comment…but, yeah, definitely NOT my finest moment. Usually I try to make real arguments but…yeah. Bad Matt. If you want to hear about it, ask me and I might tell you…I don’t want to post it.
Pictures from the retreat can be found at the following URL:
http://www.macadamfamily.com/gallery
M. Jones said,
01.06.06 at 2:35 pm
Gordon Fee is a wonderful speaker (and writer). Unfortunately I haven’t had any classes with him (he is an Emeritus and doesn’t really teach too often any more) but I did get to stay at his cabin on Galiano Island, so that is cool.
If you want to read any of his stuff, I highly recommend “How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth” and “Listening to the Holy Spirit in the Text” are both wonderful reads. If you want the commentary on 1 Corinthians, see his in the New International Commentary on the New Testament (which he is also editor of), he also has a great Philippians commentary in the IVP series.
Anyway, just thought I would chime in, Fee is quite the NT scholar.